Did God Create Some People For Destruction?

There is a common struggle for believers, when confronted with the seemingly harsh judgments of God against sin, to reconcile God’s wrath and judgement with God’s love and mercy. It’s as if we can’t wrap our minds around anger and punishment being part of a loving God. That is understandable. Not only is it counterintuitive in natural reasoning but there are some things in Paul’s letters which are difficult to understand, such as “the vessels of wrath” passage in Romans 9:22-24, from where this question in the title comes from. Peter warns readers in his letter that, “our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, …in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” {2 Peter 3:15-16} If you study Paul’s letters though, you’ll find the proper meaning usually expanded on or rephrased in another letter, if not in the same letter.

To answer the question, “Did God create some people for destruction?”, I think the most important thing is for us to begin with a clear understanding that God is not human. He is not created in our image. We tend to see God through the lens of our humanity, rather than seeing ourselves through His divinity. As Isaiah 29:16 [NASB] says, “You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, ‘He did not make me’; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” Paul echoes this in Romans 9:20-21 when he says, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?”

The verses above are stressing the point that even if God did create some people for destruction, who are we, His creation, to argue with our Creator? We exist for His pleasure and at His behest. I want to be clear here though, before going further, this does not mean, as many claim, that God planned from the beginning that some be born simply to be allocated to death and destruction! But to really understand this, we’ll have to understand some things about His nature.

God’s nature is manifold, meaning it has many facets. Although He has many facets, He doesn’t change or act capriciously because He is one, that is, He is unified in thought, purpose, and intentions. His Spirit, His Will, and His Word are one. Complete. Perfect. God is sovereign, holy, and just, but He is also patient and merciful for He is love. I believe it’s this holy and just part that falsely seem to contradict His mercy and love attributes, but let’s begin with God’s sovereignty.

God Is Sovereign.

God is sovereign, meaning ultimately, what He has planned will happen. There is often some confusion about what this means that adds to the misunderstanding that God has created some people specifically for the purpose of destruction. God is sovereign means what God decrees, will always come to pass. What God desires, however, doesn’t always happen. The bible states, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” {2 Peter 3:9 NASB} Yet we see, sadly, that throughout scripture many are destined to die, these are the vessels of wrath referred to in Romans, who they are will become clear soon. So, we see God does not get everything He wants but, as is seen in Genesis 1, and throughout the rest of scripture, what He has decreed is certain.

God Is Holy and Just.

You can’t separate holiness and justice. Holiness is sinless, without blemish or imperfection. It is the standard that justice judges all things by and protects by it’s verdict. Justice is blind because it only sees what is holy and what is not. Justice is not biased. It doesn’t care about mitigating circumstances, intentions, or excuses. It’s only job is to protect the purity of holiness. It might be easier to think of God as a perfect living host in which we were created to live in. Think of holiness as the state of perfect health and justice as it’s autoimmune response. When we sin and live contrary to holiness, similar to cancer cells, we trigger justice. The response is quick, merciless, and final, lethal to the aberration that threatens the purity of His holiness.

However, it must be understood that, God never created us to be cancerous. When we live contrary to holiness, we go from being part of the perfect system to a mutated version attacking the purity of our host. In this way we prepare ourselves as vessels of wrath. destined for destruction. God has not specifically destined us to be vessels of wrath. but sin by it’s very nature makes us so.

“But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: …to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the [Gentile];” {Romans 2:5-9} The unrepentant have by their own stubborn hardhearted choice to deny God and His sovereignty have prepared themselves as vessels of wrath destined for destruction.

It’s in this context that Paul poses this hypothetical statement, “What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath [that] prepared [themselves] for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” {Romans 9:22-24}

God Is Patient and Merciful.

But God is not only holy and just, He is love. He is patient and merciful. In fact, Jonah complained about this very aspect of God’s nature. “So [Jonah] prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? …You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.” {Jonah 4:2} For this reason Paul attributes to God the preparation and calling of the vessels of mercy. It’s by God’s mercy alone that we even have the option to become holy. Yes, we call out to Him for salvation. Yes, we accept and receive His free gift but the mercy originates and is offered out of His great love.

In 2 Timothy Paul writes again, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” By accepting the gift of salvation, that is repenting, dying to self, turning to God and away from our old, dead lives we have “cleansed ourselves,” no longer vessels of wrath but of mercy prepared and called by God. We can confidently cling to this promise in Romans that says, “[God] ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality… [and He will give] glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the [Gentile].” {Romans 2:6-7 & 10} 

This is why it’s said in James that “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” and in Proverbs “…love covers all sins,” repeated in 1 Peter 4:8, “…for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” God takes what is meant for evil and uses it for good {Gen. 50:20}. It’s this goodness of God that brings men to repentance. Be encouraged that God didn’t create you for destruction but for relationship. He created you for love, from love, and rebirthed you through love. For God so loved you He sent His only Son to take your place as a vessel of wrath. Jesus bore your sin, your death penalty, your dead-end destiny. Through His sacrifice, you have been blessed with mercy, given robes of righteousness, a crown of glory and adoption into the Royal Family of God. You are a vessel of mercy prepared beforehand for good works, Don’t let anyone sell you on anything different and don’t ever settle for less!